Astronomers have detected radio signals coming directly from an exoplanet for the first time. The planet is Beta Pictoris b, a gas giant about 63 light-years from Earth.

A team led by Harvard graduate student Kevin Ortiz Ceballos used South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope. They detected repeating, highly polarised radio bursts from the planet.

At first, researchers could not tell if the signals came from the planet or its star. They compared radio images with the positions of distant quasars. Quasars act as fixed reference points. This confirmed the emission came from the planet.

The signals are not evidence of alien life. Scientists believe they come from auroras. Charged particles from the star interact with the planet’s magnetic field. This is similar to the northern lights on Earth.

The finding gave the first direct measurement of an exoplanet’s magnetic field. Beta Pictoris b’s field is at least 1,250 gauss. Earth’s is about 0.5 gauss. Jupiter’s is about 4.3 gauss.

The study has not yet been peer-reviewed. It could give astronomers a new tool to study distant worlds.